My Post House: Sabertooth Productions

Greg Leuenberger, CEO of Sabertooth Productions

Greg Leuenberger, CEO of Sabertooth Productions, and his small team of designers, editors, and artists provide production, postproduction, animation, and graphic services to a variety of technology, medical/biotech and entertainment companies. Located in Sunnyvale, Calif., Sabertooth Productions has gained a reputation as the go-to post house of Silicon Valley.

What specific projects do you currently have in the works? What else have you worked on recently?

Much of our business hinges on our ability to leverage our clients' CAD files to create things like product tours and mechanism of action animations, which are vital to the medical and technology industry. 2010 has been a year of refining that workflow.

We recently finished an interesting project on digital publishing workflow for Adobe that featured the iPad, and also completed several exhibits for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, focused on climate change.

What new technology are you working with?

The most cutting-edge technology we work with day-to-day involves software from SolidWorks and Luxology that leverages clients' CAD data into usable 3D assets for marketing and advertising purposes. Being able to effectively utilize a company's pre-existing CAD data to bring their product into the world of 3D animation and imagery is a tremendous first step towards servicing that company's larger media needs.

What do you consider to be the next big thing in post?

I don't know if there will be a single next big thing that splashes onto the scene, but I do think we are going to continue to see what were once considered "high-end-only" tools come within the reach of boutique production companies like mine.

The difference between running a post house today and five years ago is that we no longer need to invest huge amounts of capital into decks. With the popularity of the P2 cameras, RED, the 5D, the Sony EX, and others, the need to own multiple decks or invest heavily in one format is over. You just rent the camera you need and bring the storage media to the edit room the next day. The funds that would have gone to decks and switchers in the past can now be put toward a multipurpose system—something that can run Smoke, DaVinci, CS5, and Final Cut Pro.

What new products/technology are you looking forward to the most?

I'm interested in shared storage systems that are big, fast, and easy to set up and maintain. I'm hoping a shared-storage system based on 10GB Ethernet and the newer 6GB SATA drives will do the trick. I don't want to have to worry about speed, capacity, or maintenance anymore.

What was the first editing system you worked on?

The first system I ever worked on was some kind of tape-to-tape Hi-8 system that worked with a LANC cable and a simple tape logging system. The first NLE I ever worked on was an early, possibly the original, version of Premiere.

What technology do you currently work with?

• Mac Pro OS X
• Xserve Central Project Server to connect workstations
• Drobo Pro
• Blackmagic Design DeckLink capture and playback cards
• AJA Kona card
• Apple's Final Cut Studio
• Adobe's CS4 Suite
• Luxology's Modo
• P2
• Sony EX
• Canon 5D
• HDCAM

What gets you out of bed in the morning to go to work in postproduction?

I truly feel fortunate to be working in the industry of my choosing. If I had a different day job, I would be spending all of my nights "geeking out" on editing and animation software to feed my insatiable curiosity, but luckily I can do that all day long.

In addition to a genuine passion for what I do, I'm driven by the unshakable burden of my mid-western work ethic and loyalty to my clients.

What are your favorite and least favorite things about working in post?

The best thing about post is that, for the most part, success is dependent on what you can do and how well you can do it, not who you know and where you came from. There's an incredible amount of opportunity for talented and driven professionals willing to put in the long hours that this industry demands.

I also love the informality of this industry. People are generally laid-back, genuinely interested in what they do, and you can still get away with dressing like you're in high school—even when you're pushing 40.

My least favorite aspect of my job has to be the hours. Sometimes the things you simply cannot control, like render time, are what create unbearable pressure, and the late nights never seem to end. There will be a generation of editors and animators who will retire one day without knowing how to go to bed before 2 a.m.

What were you doing 10 years ago and what do you expect to be doing 10 years from now?

Ten years ago, the dotcom bubble here in Silicon Valley burst. I was living the life up until that point, working at a post house, enjoying catered meals every day, drinks on tab at night, and company trips to Hawaii. When that all came crashing down, we found ourselves sitting at our desks idly, with no work in sight. I set out on my own and started Sabertooth Productions.

Ten years from now, I hope to still be running Sabertooth Productions, but be working less! Post and animation are tough, and there's a big difference in life when you're 29 without kids and 39 with two kids.

What is your best post memory?

After about 10 years, it starts to blur together, but I'll never forget the first time I actually saw one of my animations on TV. I had rented a movie, popped the tape in, and BAM! days and days of hard work came to life before my eyes. That made me feel like I had made the right career decision.